[ Up ] [ Shimmering Substance ] [ Art or Pornography? ] [ Elmore James ]

Up
Shimmering Substance
Art or Pornography?
Elmore James             

Shimmering Substance, by Jackson Pollock. Click on the thumbnail image above to see a beautiful 283kb version. (Thanks to The WebMuseum, Paris.) Painted in 1946, before he became famous, this oil on canvas lives at New York's Museum of Modern Art. We get to see it digitized, on the net, by the WebMuseum, free, online at many mirror sites around the world. (I got it from the MetaLab (formerly sunSITE) at the University of North Carolina.)

Speaking of North Carolina, I am pleased to attempt to offend Senator Helms, not to mention former Senator Exon, and the Southern Baptist Church, by using the internet for base, vulgar images of pornography! If you are under 18 (or over 46) you may wish to leave this page immediately, and jump to my vacation page where I promise wholesome family entertainment (and not one picture of a bikini-clad woman frolicking on a Caribbean beach!). But if you are of legal age and promise not to sue me if you are grossly offended, then you may click here: Okay, Pat Robertson, art or pornography? [52kb]

My favorite art museums in New England
       Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
       Clark Art Institute at Williams College
       Williamstown, Massachusetts
       The Portland Art Museum, Portland, Maine.

More Pollock: Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center
                    The Pollock-Krasner Foundation

Of course the three greatest musicians and composers in the history of civilization must be recognized on a 'music' web page. Can it be that I need to say that I am referring to Elmore James, Gustav Mahler and Frank Zappa? And what do they have in common? No, not Alma (Schindler) (Mahler) (Gropius) Werfel. Only Mahler had her in common, and not for long! (cf. Tom Lehrer) [Note: Tom Lehrer is the fifth greatest composer (see a different opinion here) in the history of the (known) universe. For the identity of the fourth greatest composer-musician, check here. A photo of him appears at the bottom of this page.]  For a larger version of Elmore James, click the Elmore thumbnail. 
Elmore James   
(1918-1963)

more Elmore James here!  more Elmore here!  for even more E.J., click here!   It's Elmore Madness!
Deltablues Elmore James page
[note: recently, the House of Blues had a good page on Elmore James. The HOB web site is so overbuilt and so annoying to look at that I have not found the Elmore page there again. You can look for it.]

Below: cover art from the Mothers of Invention's album "Weasels Ripped my Flesh", the infamous Sheik Yerbouti,                
and the maestro in his later years. Frank Zappa lives!!!
...especially on these web sites:
         Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame Zappa
         St. Alphonzo's Pancake Homepage
         The Official Zappa Web site

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Mahler wrote deep, moving, sweeping symphonic epics and songs reflecting nature, incorporating Germanic, Bohemian (and Jewish) mythology and folk tunes. He was known for writing for a huge orchestra- some for over 100 musicians- and often with a chorus and vocal soloists. Elmore James never got a chance to write for an orchestra, but Frank Zappa did, to the puzzlement, consternation and grudging admiration of the classical music community. Zappa's albums are available at his web site, or from CD Now. My favorite orchestras have wonderful Mahler recordings for sale
         The Chicago Symphony Orchestra
         The Boston Symphony Orchestra
To my knowledge, the Boston Pops has yet to perform "Dust My Blues" (Elmore James' biggest hit), but they might have squeezed in a Zappa piece without me hearing about it.

Gustav Mahler web sites I like
    The Gustav Mahler Society
    another Gustav Mahler site
    yet another Gustav Mahler site
    Mahler Redux (another Geocities site)

If you like the blues, you might want to support the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. The R & B Foundation provides financial and other support to older, retired blues and soul musicians, who never made money from their music due to greedy managers and record companies, and the theft of copyright royalties.

Ladies and gentlemen, the fourth greatest musician-composer ever, and the best lyricist:

              
      Robert A. Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota
(John Prine is the second greatest lyricist in the US)